The Stax Report's ''Five Scribes'' Edition

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By Stax

Stax here with a Special "Five Scribes" Edition of The Stax Report! Since the primary focus of The Stax Report has always been on screenwriting, I thought I'd share with you who some of my favorite screenwriters are working in the biz today. These writers have scripted some popular recent releases as well as several of the biggest films coming down the pike. Obviously, I've overlooked a slew of screenwriters so feel free to tell me who you believe should make it on to the next list. (I intend to do a separate column about writing teams.) Another thing you'll notice here? All of these scribes are white guys. If this irks anybody's sense of political correctness then take it up with the industry; don't shoot the messenger. Here goes:

David Ayer. This native of the mean streets of L.A. served in the U.S. Navy as a sonarman before becoming a screenwriter. Ayer, whom I named the "Screenwriter of the Year" in my 2001 Retrospective, co-wrote the submarine thriller U-571 and revised the screenplay for last year's sleeper hit, The Fast and the Furious. His "calling card" spec script Training Day was eventually turned into a hit film that won Denzel Washington an Academy Award for Best Actor; Washington's co-star, Ethan Hawke, was nominated as Best Supporting Actor. I find it odd that the two lead actors in what is essentially a two-man show are nominated but not the screenplay that created their characters.

Training Day led to Ayer co-writing the upcoming police thriller Dark Blue (p.k.a. Plague Season) with acclaimed crime novelist James Ellroy. Not through with cop flicks just yet, Ayer is now scripting the big-screen remake of the 1970s police series S.W.A.T. He also has Squids, a submarine drama with David Fincher attached to direct, in development. David Ayer's work is marked by its pungent dialogue, streetwise characterizations, and taut pacing.

- WGA

David Franzoni

David Franzoni. In an insightful interview with the Writers Guild, Oscar-winning writer-producer David Franzoni (Gladiator) revealed how he got his break in showbiz. An action script he wrote on spec back in the mid-1980s landed him with mega-agency CAA. He then penned "a female character piece" that was eventually transformed into the Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Jumpin' Jack Flash. Following that, Franzoni admits he began "writing for assignment, the 'grunt work' of the business."

This "grunt work" led to a number of projects that never saw the light of day. These included: a biopic of Al Capone that Franzoni co-wrote with John Milius for HBO; The Mayor of Castro Street, a biopic of gay activist Harvey Milk that Oliver Stone was to have directed; an Americanized remake of the BBC miniseries House of Cards with director Michael Mann; and a biopic of George Washington, which Robert Redford, Oliver Stone, and Barry Levinson all toyed with directing at different points. (I named George Washington one of the projects I'd most like to see escape development hell.)

Franzoni's Washington script attracted the attention of Steven Spielberg who hired the scribe to adapt the slave revolt tale Amistad for the big screen. This snagged Franzoni a deal with Spileberg's studio DreamWorks, which led to the project that eventually won him an Academy Award. Gladiator was based on an original pitch by Franzoni who went on to write all of the early drafts. During production director Ridley Scott hired John Logan (see below) and William Nicholson (Nell) to rewrite Franzoni's script.

Franzoni was later brought back to revise their work, and he garnered a producer's credit on the box office hit. Franzoni later shared the Best Picture Oscar with producers Douglas Wick and Branko Lustig. Franzoni's current projects include a sequel to Gladiator and a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced take on King Arthur that Michael Bay will direct. As both a history buff and a fan of biopics, I envy the projects that Franzoni gets to work on.

- WGA

Charlie Kaufman

Charlie Kaufman. Named as The Stax Report's Screenwriter of the Year in my 2000 Retrospective, Charlie Kaufman earned an Oscar nomination for 1999's Being John Malkovich. Since then the former TV scribe &#Array; whose series credits included The Dana Carvey Show, Ned and Stacey, and Get a Life &#Array; has established himself as arguably the most unorthodox and daring screenwriter now working. Kaufman's absurd wit, memorable characters, and rule-breaking writing style are showcased in the upcoming films Adaptation and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

His screenplay for Adaptation has already become something of a legend. Boggled as to how he should adapt Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief, Kaufman risked getting fired by instead penning a darkly comic, quasi-autobiographical script about his troubles. He even made himself (and his faux twin brother!) the story's protagonists. The final film, directed by Being John Malkovich's Spike Jonze, is slated for release later this year.

The long-in-development Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is an adaptation of former Gong Show host Chuck Barris' "unauthorized autobiography" where he claims to have moonlighted as a CIA hitman during his TV heyday. Confessions came close to realization several times before George Clooney agreed to make it his feature film directing debut. I named both Adaptation and Confessions among the Best Scripts that I reviewed in 2000, and I hailed Kaufman as "the most original and entertaining voice out there right now (even if he might resent being considered 'entertaining'). Five years ago, every aspiring screenwriter wanted to be Quentin Tarantino. Now they'll want to be Charlie Kaufman." Kaufman is currently adapting Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly for Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's production company, Section Eight.

John Logan

John Logan. Called "an immensely talented writer with the rare ability to combine drama and action without sacrificing one for the other," John Logan hails from the Chicago theater scene. After winning the New York Outer Critics Circle award for one of his off-Broadway productions, Logan made the transition to screenwriting. He penned such unproduced projects as Pure Evel (a biopic of biker Evel Knievel), I Am Legend (revising Mark Protosevich's script), Killer Spy (about traitor Aldrich Ames), and a biopic of conquistador Cabeza de Vaca that Tom Cruise has long been attached to.

Logan's first produced credits were for such stinkers as Bats and the telepic Tornado! His screenwriting breakthrough came with RKO281, which examined Orson Welles' trials making Citizen Kane. Initially meant as a star-studded feature film to be directed by Ridley Scott, RKO281 was eventually downsized into a respectable HBO production. Logan then co-wrote Oliver Stone's gridiron expose Any Given Sunday before revising David Franzoni's screenplay for Gladiator. Gladiator ultimately earned Logan (and co-writers Franzoni and William Nicholson) an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay while the film itself won Best Picture.

With Gladiator to his credit, Logan then turned his sights on a genre he's long admired: science-fiction. His first attempt was a poor remake of H.G. Wells' classic The Time Machine. (I explain at great length in my "Before & After" edition the many problems I had with Logan's script so I won't recap them here.) Then Logan, a lifelong Trekker, snagged the coveted job of writing the tenth Star Trek film. Unfortunately, while I found that Logan's Star Trek: Nemesis script had its heart in the right place, it also recycled far too many elements from other Trek adventures for my liking. Perhaps Mr. Logan should stick with the dramas and historical fare he excels at.

John Logan now has two high-profile biopics in the works. The first is a long-in-development epic about eccentric magnate Howard Hughes that will reteam director Martin Scorsese with his Gangs of New York star Leonardo DiCaprio. Logan is currently scripting a film about Abraham Lincoln's Presidency, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's yet-to be-published biography. Steven Spielberg will direct it. Furthermore, Edward Zwick is preparing to direct Tom Cruise in the Logan-scripted The Last Samurai.

John Rogers scripted Mage.

John Rogers. This Canadian physics grad-turned-stand-up comic made his bones in television, working on such series as Cosby and Jackie Chan Adventures before breaking into feature films. Rogers has shown a particular fondness for genre material and is quickly becoming one of the most sought after scribes for comic book movies. His first produced feature film credit was last summer's Western comedy, American Outlaws. That film's failure at the box office hasn't stalled Rogers' ascent, though.

Rogers penned the screenplay adaptation of Matt Wagner's graphic novel Mage, which I named among my favorite scripts of 2000. Mage is currently being rewritten by Adam Simon; here's hoping that he doesn't screw up a good thing. Rogers is now overhauling Catwoman for Warner Brothers with Ashley Judd attached to star. Rogers' next release is the sci-fi pic The Core. Another Rogers-scripted project in development is the Dean Devlin-directed thriller The Carrier. John Rogers' writing is distinguished by his sharp wit and keen understanding of genre.